New Review! BLACK SNAKE MOAN (2006, dir. Craig Brewer)

John Lesher and Paramount Vantage are some gutsy motherfuckers. To support this movie with a splashy marketing campaign and a pretty wide release, is psychotic. God bless them. I saw this film with three guys who ultimately loved it. I found 55% of it extremely boring. Like thinking-about-my-laundry boring. Feeding into some weird male fantasy, the premise involves Samuel L. Jackson chaining a nymphomaniac (Christina Ricci) to his radiator so she can "stop being such a whore all the time". Some people I really respect (Zak and Carmen) loved this film. I am a bit dismayed at how dismissable I found it to be.

The casting of Christina Ricci is VERY interesting. A child actor turned indie darling writhing around getting gang raped. It's exploitative and viable at the same time. It was a smart move on Brewer's part to choose someone so professional and who's body image hasn't always been the most fetching. Chided for her large forehead and never much of a Lolita, Ricci emerges as possibly the most ironic choice of actress to play Rae, the sex-addicted heroine. If Jessica Alba were wiggling at Samuel L. Jackson's feet, it would have been a completely different story. I think a lot of the squimishness the scenes inspire comes from Ricci's lack of sex appeal. She's got a rocking body but remains completely unappetizing.

Samuel L. Jackson has become such a joke that all earnestness has been eviscerated from his acting style. He's waltzes around the sweaty corn field or the dusty bar like a gangster preacher on smack. In this film, he plays a blues musician which seems perfect on paper. In reality, it's kind of like watching Charlton Heston doing Tennesse Williams. Having the blues involves some brooding, while Jackson seems to have a permanent case of the Mean Reds. In essence, Ricci doesn't generate enough heat and Jackson brews up too much. This uneven chemistry between the leads highlights Black Snake Moan's inability to commit to a style or a real purpose for existing.

Brewer is talented but his scripts are thin. And honestly... pretty gauche. Like tacky. It's impressive that Brewer is able to shellac redemption and make it look like a happy meal. I was criticized for not "going with it" or "wanting a resolution". My biggest problem with Black Snake Moan is that pain is caricatured. I'm tolerant of a lot of things in films but that one pisses me off. If the major conflict is rooted in rapes and abortions and the symbolism is fraught with racism and misogyny... I think you've got to be a goddamn genius to think of a proper punchline. And Craig Brewer is not a genius. I mean, I just spaced out for most of it. It wasn't about anything. There wasn't a beginning, middle, end. Justin Timberlake wasn't too bad but was distracting. Good soundtrack.

Bottom Line: Some people loved it. I was not one of those people.